Charcoal and the unwelcome return chapters 3&4
by Hope-and-Roses
Summary: it continues...


Chapter 3

"I would so like to say that I should be in bed right now…" Three hours later and Rose, the Doctor and Charcoal were all crammed into the SIDRAT, as the TARDIS was in for repairs (you have no idea how hard it was to find a garage that didn't crack up laughing at the sight of a giant blue police box). Charcoal was sitting on the mound of dirty clothes that had grown up again ("Washing in space? Don't make me laugh.") Moaning about her need of beauty sleep and how early in was (Ten thirty am).

BEAUTY SLEEP? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH… IT ISN'T GOOD FOR MY CIRCUITS. The SIDRAT was still up an running, and was happily engaged to the TARDIS (Who hadn't really said much, but as the SIDRAT said, CONVERSATION DOESN'T MATTER WHEN YOUR'RE IN LOVE.)

"SIDRAT," said Rose, after prodding Charcoal with a bit of pipe that had just dropped off the wall, "What year should we go to?"

OOH. WELL 1066 IS NICE, IF YOU DON'T MIND THE GORE, AND 2394 IS VERY GOOD FOR SHOPPING…

"You know what I mean." She growled at it.

MEENIE. SOB. 2007.

Rose hauled the Doctor to his feet (He'd been snoozing on the sofa) and pushed him in front of the dashboard. Charcoal chucked him the keys and he started then ignition.

"Jeeze, bossy much." He muttered, "How come whenever it's your planet in danger, you are like, super powered?" Rose rolled her eyes. Men, always complaining…

"And I'm really tired and my head hurts, and I hate Mondays and I'm missing the Simpsons and…"

"Shut up already!" yelled the Doctor at Charcoal. Suddenly there was a huge jerk and the whole SIDRAT veered to the left. The Doctor and Rose were flung to the floor, but Charcoal stupidly grabbed the fridge as it went flying past and was hurled against the wall. She felt dizzy and her stomach hurt, but soon she realised that something else was wrong. She was falling through the air, gaining speed. Strands of cloud whipped past her face and the air howled in her ears. She opened her mouth to scream but the force of the wind pushing down her throat silenced her. It was like being on some nightmarish roller coaster ride, only this time she wasn't held safely in with straps. She closed her eyes and waited for her body to hit the ground.

Nothing happened. She could feel something behind her back, but it was solid and unmoving. Slowly she opened her eyes. She was lying in a skip in a back street. There were high-rise blocks of flats everywhere and the sky was slate grey. Slowly Charcoal sat up, moving each body part separately to check that she hadn't broken anything. As soon as she was satisfied that she didn't need a hospital she climbed out of the skip and looked around. The place was completely deserted, and she had horrible visions of Daleks and other aliens destroying cities, but whenever that happened, Charcoal could tell. Because you can't wipe out a city without vibes being left behind, fear vibes, anger vibes or just plain confusion vibes. This place had none of those, in fact it was as if no one had ever been there, at least for a very long time, long enough for the vibes to evaporate back into the atmosphere.

With her eyes wide and hand on her laser gun, Charcoal walked silently through the street, glancing at the empty shops and old houses. She traipsed round for about an hour, and didn't see another living soul, but there was something that was bugging Charcoal, the feeling that this world was oddly familiar, but she couldn't place where she'd seen it before. There was something else too. Charcoal could automatically read any language, spoken or written down, which made it hard to determine exactly what language it was that she was reading, but the language on the shop fronts and signposts seemed different to Charcoal. They weren't hard to decipher exactly the opposite in fact, they were too easy to read. She hardly had to figure it out at all, it was as if she'd known that language since day one.

Chapt 4

"Oh my god! She fell out of the door!" Rose was going practically hysterical. The Doctor had managed to regain control of the SIDRAT, but hadn't been able to locate where Charcoal had ended up, it was almost like she had never even existed. The SIDRAT scanners couldn't pick up anything.

The Doctor and Rose had landed in Brighton, England, 2007. The were parked underneath the pier, and thankfully, it was winter so they hadn't squashed any unsuspecting sunbathers. They were trying to decide where to start, and whether to back to look for Charcoal.

"She just fell into outer space!" Rose said again, shaking her head dumbly.

"I am well aware of that," Said the Doctor, locking the SIDRAT, "I was next to you. But we've got to decide what to do now. I'm pretty sure she'll be able to cope until we can get back to her, so if we deal with this problem here first…"

"But what if she's stuck in some void surrounded by, oh, I dunno, Daleks?" Rose cut across the Doctor. He went decidedly pale.

"Then we'll have to hurry up here. Anyway, we can't go anywhere because the SIDRAT has got what appears to be concussion from its bashing earlier." Indeed, if you squinted at it, the SIDRAT did seem to be swaying slightly.

"Great." Said Rose, before hurrying after the Doctor, who was striding confidently along the beach, not noticing the huge wave that crashed into him a second later, knocking him off his feet. Rose couldn't help snorting with laughter as the Doctor stood up, dripping wet and spluttering.

"Ha ha hachoo!" He sneezed. Rose walked back to the SIDRAT, annoyed that they had to waste precious time getting the Doctor another suit. She put the key in the lock and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. She then tried to take it out, thinking that it was the wrong one, but it was stuck. By this time the doctor had got there, and he tried to turn it too, but it was well and truly jammed. Fuming and cursing, the Doctor turned away and started to walk back along the beach again, still dripping wet and now freezing cold. Rose followed, still trying to keep a straight face.

If anyone in Brighton thought it was odd to see a man in a soaking wet suit walking down the promenade in the middle of winter, they certainly didn't show it. The SIDRAT had told them to start at a house in a long sloping street in the heart of Brighton. The Doctor grumbled and growled as they trailed up the steep hill to the house. When they got there Rose rang the doorbell and they waited on the step. A pretty woman with flyaway blond hair opened the door. She had bags under her eyes and looked as if she hadn't slept for a week. She stared at the Doctor bemusedly. He pulled out his psychic paper, which was pretty soggy, but it still worked.

"I'm Sergeant John Smith and this is PC Rose Tyler." Said the Doctor, trying to look as imposing as he could drenched in sea water.

"He was pushed into the sea while we were chasing some thieves," Rose invented quickly, nodding her head at the Doctor, "But that's not why we're here, um…" Rose had no idea why they were actually there. All the SIDRAT had said was that they were to start their search at that address.

"Yes, you must be here about my daughters disappearance? Have you heard any news?" The woman looked so hopeful that Rose felt awful about lying to her.

"We're sorry Mrs…" the Doctor trailed off.

"Jones." Said the woman, frowning slightly. "You should know that if you're supposed to be looking for Suki." The Doctor breathed out slowly. Now he knew the girl's name.

"Yes, sorry, we're new on this case." Said Rose, "And between you and me, our borough commander could use some work on his briefing skills." Mrs Jones seemed satisfied and let them through to the large sitting room. They sat on the sofa while she went to make a cup of tea. When she came back in she was carrying a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

"I hope you don't mind second hand things Sergeant Smith," she said, smiling at the Doctor, "But I had these old things upstairs and you look as if you could use them!"

The Doctor took them and went upstairs to change. Rose pulled out a notebook and pen and turned to Mrs Jones.

"If it's ok, could you tell me about when your daughter went missing? Had you been arguing?"

"No. We never usually argue. But Suki always keeps herself to herself. She hardly ever comes down form her room, and when she does it's only for food. She's a real daydreamer, she is always going on about how great it would be to be abducted by aliens. She's sci-fi mad… What's wrong?" Rose had frozen. A girl who would love to be abducted by aliens? That was the kind of thing all evil space wanderers would dream of.

"Miss Tyler? What's wrong?" Mrs Jones was looking as Rose with worry.

"Oh nothing," said Rose breezily, "I'm sure Suki will be fine."

Mrs Jones smiled weakly at Rose. "I hope so."

"Hey, Mrs Jones?" The Doctor had just come back into the room, dressed in the orange T-shirt and baggy jeans, "Mind if we look in the garden? I know it seems odd, but you never know."

Mrs Jones took the Doctor and Rose into the back garden, where the Doctor promptly squatted down in the flowerbed and started pawing at the earth. Mrs Jones and Rose stood on the patio and watched him.

It took the Doctor about ten minutes before he found anything suspicious, but when he did find it he couldn't help but cry out in horror and surprise.

"What's up?" Called Rose. The Doctor was about to tell her, but he saw Mrs Jones looking at him with a mixture of worry and interest in her face. He didn't feel like explaining to her what he'd found and what it meant.

"I leant on a stone," he invented quickly, "Nothing to worry about, I'm fine." He spent another few minutes looking at the prints in the soil, before getting up and gong back into the house.

"So what did you find?" Asked Rose, once they'd left Mrs Jones house, assuring her that they would do their best to find Suki.

The Doctor looked at her and sighed. "They're back. They were Cyberman prints." Rose gawped at him for a few moments.

"Well now we know what happened to Suki." She said sadly.

"Not necessarily." Said the Doctor, walking down the road.


End file.
